Year In Review – Hottest Family Food Fun of 2009

It has been an excellent year for eating (especially eating local) here at Our Big Earth. We’ve loved learning lots of new and delicious recipes that are perfect for that family meal and really enjoyed learning how to create new and different dishes from a multitude of yummy ingredients.
Our recipe book is getting better and [...]

Family Eats – Simply Sinful Holiday Treats

Editor’s Note: Good morning. Today we have local foodie Sarah Stromquist dishing out her love for the holiday season and some wonderfully delicious season-themed treats. Yum. Here she is:
I‘m not sure if anyone knows just how much I love Christmas, but there are the definite tell tale signs – my house is decorated on December [...]

Bitchin’ Kitchen – Olive Oil Wars

Editor’s Note: If you missed this morning’s post, we reviewed the yumminess that is Kinaree Thai Cuisine in downtown Courtenay. Check out the goodness HERE. Meanwhile, Nadia G and the Bitchin’ Kitchen crew are back today with Olive Oil Wars. Enjoy:

OBE’s Good, Bad and Ugly Homemade Halloween Treats

Good Morning. I have never aspired to be a genius in the kitchen, which by all accounts of my hearty Polish upbringing is so very wrong. There are a few things where I claim master title status – baked meat is right up there. I am a cole slaw champ. Potatoes 12 ways is my [...]

Family Eats – Healthy Pumpkin Treats

Editor’s Note: This morning we have Sarah Stromquist on site getting all pumpkin-licious with some of her favorite tasty seasonal treats. I’m ready to get busy in the kitchen! Here’s Sarah:
We have a pumpkin theme going on in the house and I thought it would be fun to share my ideas and recipes for such [...]

Bitchin’ Kitchen – Deflate Your Mate

Happy downpour. If you missed our morning post, check out all the details on the new location for the Comox Valley Farmer’s Market Winter Market HERE.
In honor of the OBE HQ weight loss extravaganza, the chilly weather and my uncontrollable urge to make a giant pan of baklava that no one else will be allowed [...]

Lunch Box Recipes Kids Will Love

Editor’s Note: The lovely local foodie Sarah Stromquist is with us today. She’s serving up some ideas that are sure to rock the lunch box. Check them out:
It’s that time of year again, when the weather starts to cool down, the days get shorter and, as school starts, parents everywhere are making lunches for their [...]

Family Eats – Summer Soups

Editor’s Note: Ah, Wednesday. Yummy day. Family chef Sarah Stromquist is here today offering up some tasty insight into Summer soups. delish.
Anytime of year soups are a wonderful way to enjoy a healthy and generally quick meal. Paired with a wrap, sandwich or some such delight they become a full meal.
But I usually think of [...]

Quick Kids Recipes – Zucchini Fries & Onion Rings

Good Morning. The first Wednesday of every month is usually reserved for restaurant reviews. But, we are clocking some chill time this month in preparation for proper introductions to some new foodie folks here on Our Big Earth. In the meantime family gardens around the Comox Valley are bursting with lots of onions and zucchini [...]

Family Eats – A Day of Local Food Meals

Editor’s Note: Good morning. There are some seriously exciting events going on today as a part of the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge. Join us out at Simms Park near the Kiwanis BBQ for NeighbourWood Eats where families gather for a potluck lunch and are learning how to Winter garden with the Comox [...]

Eat Local, Comox Valley – Day One

Good morning and welcome to Day 1 of the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Food Challenge. We will be here all month bringing you the ins and outs of local food.
TODAY’S LOCAL FOOD FUN:
- Plan a lunch or dinner at Locals-Food from the Heart of the Island, Anderton Bistro-Pub, The Great Escape or Bisque and [...]

Family Eats – Hot Summer-Time Treats to Keep Cool

It has been hectic around here with the winding down of school, sports and all this incredible weather. In the chaos and heat my ladies, like most kids I suspect, have been having trouble wanting to eat.
I don’t blame them really.
But I know that when my kids play outside all day, melting away in this [...]

Easter Crafts, Easter Egg Hunts, Easter Food

Well, here we are – the Thursday before Easter – and I’ve got nothing. Seriously, it’s ungood. Thank goodness for our pals Nicola and Mike who threw a big egg bash for the kids last weekend.
I’m hoping I’m not the only momma out there who is relatively unorganized in the Easter/Passover action department. Luckily, it [...]

Family Eats – Kitchen Tools 4 Family Cooking Fun

My kiddos each have a preference for certain tasks in the kitchen. Wearing their aprons and standing on their designated stools, they have mastered many duties and discovered their kitchen karma.
My youngest, E, loves to peel, cut and stir literally everything.
My oldest, K, is a precise measurer and is the self-professed best recipe finder. She [...]

Mom Poll – Tips to Sneak In Food Kids Won’t Eat

It’s the ultimate parenting dilemma – how to get your kids to eat healthy foods.
There’s always the theory that if you never give things like candy and cookies, pizza and McDonalds to them that kids will never know what they are missing – until a friend of yours catches your kiddo in the corner [...]

Winter Nutrition From The Grocery “Garden”

Another new year! But with the remnants of snow it is hardly a time to be gardening. So I thought we’d take a look at a few common foods available at the grocery “garden!”
Typically the new year ushers in new year’s resolutions, and eating healthier is a common goals after the onslaught of Christmas [...]

Local Fresh Bread – Wheat- & Gluten-Free

Eating wheat-free or gluten-free doesn’t mean you have to give up foods you love! It seems these days.
Many families have to eliminate wheat products from the household grocery list because of intolerance or allergy. Bread lovers (myself included) find it hard enough to curb this staple from our daily diet (who can resist carbs!), and [...]

Best Family Food of 2008

I love to eat great food. My mother, brother and father all duked it out over time in the kitchen when I was a kid. So, I enjoyed being out of the mix, eating rather than creating.
(there’s a pattern surfacing here. My parents suspected I came out of the womb a career girl)
But, as usual, [...]

Family Dinner – Spanikopita

Editor’s Note: Today we continue with our second installment of Summertime guest foodies with Nanaimo mom of four, master organic gardener and local food chef supreme Krista Johnston.
I first discovered Krista’s warm, wonderful, community-filled spirit years ago and have been a huge fan of her sensibility from that moment on. Her perspective on food is [...]

Coconut Cocoa Date Balls

Ken is a chocolate junkie.
From goo to gourmet, if it looks like chocolate and smells like chocolate, the rest of us aren’t going to be getting much of it.
That would be just fine for me. In the sweets universe, chocolate rates well below sour candies and rides at the back of the bus when in [...]

Apple “Cupcakes”

Banana Walnut French Toast

Good Morning
When you read on and check out Christa’s yummy breakfast recipe today, you’ll notice that her column has a gorgeous new banner. As a part of our ongoing redesign, all of our regular columnists now have customized banners designed by Ken Henderson Design with photos courtesy of Karen McKinnon.
This is one of the many [...]

Spring Break Reading Adventures

After a long Winter of snowy tales, the tiny person and I hauled out the books about blooming flowers, baby animals and sunshine a few weeks ago to get ourselves geared up for the activity of Spring.
I’ve definitely had a tough time charging myself up lately…whether it’s the chill factor in the mornings or feeling [...]

Holidays Around the World – Hanukkah

For the next few days we’re going to spend some time checking out other holidays celebrated by children around the world this year. When I was a kiddo, some of the most memorable experiences I ever had included experiencing the different holiday celebrations of friends of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds.
Giving your kiddos the opportunity [...]

Dinner Recipes – Easy Curries for Your Family

I‘m pretty sure we are among the lucky parents.
From the time our daughter started on solid food, she’s been a huge fan of all that is veggies, fruits and exotic flavours. She’ll chow down on curries, coconut milk, basil and ginger-filled Thai cuisine, spicy Latino and lime-infused Caribbean food.
There’s not much, really, she won’t at [...]